Administrators, students
cope with early start time
By louis c. hochman
Staff Writer
The transition to a 7:20 a.m. start time at Allentown High School hasn’t been without problems, but is generally going well, officials say.
"At this point in time I would say it has been overall successful," Allentown High School Principal Christopher Nagy said this week. "The students are arriving in an orderly and organized fashion, even if their eyes aren’t wide open when they get here."
With the start of the 2000-01 school year, the Upper Freehold Regional School District Board of Education changed AHS’s starting time from 7:45 a.m. to 7:20 a.m. as part of its move to a tiered busing system, in which school schedules are staggered throughout the district.
The change affects teen-agers in Allentown, Upper Freehold Township and Millstone Township, as all three towns send students to the high school.
"What does become a little more difficult is when we have to coordinate different schedules between the elementary-middle school and the high school," Nagy said.
The principal said scheduling can get complicated on days with unusual schedules, such as delayed openings and half days. The school will have its first half day of the year on Friday.
"We wind up with some staffing issues because we have bus drivers who also work in the schools as hall monitors. In addition, we have some teachers who move between the elementary school and the high school," Nagy said. "It’s a matter of coordinating schedules. We’re finding this is something we’ll have to continually keep an eye on and adjust as necessary."
In preparation for the earlier high school starting time, school administrators have implemented a stricter attendance policy in regard to tardiness. Any student who misses more than one-third of a class will be marked absent.
"That was done as a deterrent because students might be late with the earlier schedule," Nagy said. "So far, tardiness has only been about the same as in past years."
Nagy said there were a couple of problems with the bus schedules during the first few days of class, but not severe ones.
"We had some buses running behind schedule. Overall, it’s been a little more time and effort to make the change than was expected, but things have gotten to be running smoothly," the principal said.
Millstone Township Board of Educa-tion President Allan Gallagher said he has heard from some parents that the high school schedule change is putting their children at bus stops too early in the morning.
"Well, it’s certainly earlier than I’d like to be waiting for a bus," Gallagher said. "It’s an awfully early time to get out there."
Gallagher said he wasn’t sure exactly how early students are being picked up, but noted that even a 20- to 25-minute change puts pickups early in the morning.
Nagy said it’s unfortunate that teen-agers, who tend to stay up later than younger children, have to get to school so early, but everyone who is affected is adjusting as best as possible.
"Unfortunately, I can’t really concern myself with what time they need to get up or that end of it. My concern is just that they get here on time," he said.